Sheet guiding apparatus



Aug. 7, 1956v c. HARTER SHEET GUIDING APPARATUS 2 Sheet's-Sheet 1 Original Filed Sept. 21, 1 45 INVENTOR.

M @Zy Aug. 7, 1956 c. HARTER 2,757,703

SHEET GUIDING APPARATUS Original Filed Sept. 21, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w .wm /////4 United States Patent SHEET GUIDING APPARATUS Clair Harter, Seattle, Wash assignor to Flex-O-Glass, Inc., a corporation of Illinois Original application September 21, 1945, Serial No. 617,812, now Patent No. 2,596,997, dated May 20, 1952. Divided and this application April 26, 1952, Serial No. 284,530

6 Claims. (Cl. 153-2) This invention relates to a forming machine adapted to operate on sheet material, and more particularly to a guide mechanism used to direct sheet material through a forming machine.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 617,812, filed September 21, 1945, now Patent 2,596,997, granted May 20, 1952, entitled Cutting and Forming Machine.

A'general object of this invention is to provide a new and improved means for guiding sheet material through a forming machine.

Another object is to provide a guide means capable of vertical adjustment to accommodate itself to materials of varying thickness.

Still another object is to provide a guide means capable of vertical adjustment to retain the sheet material in substantially the same plane and thus prevent buckling.

Another object is to provide a guide means which can be adjusted vertically as a whole to vary the position of the sheet with respect to cutting and forming means in a forming machine.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a forming machine embodying the guide mechanism of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken in a vertical plane extending longitudinally of the forming machine of Fig. 1 approximately centrally thereof and showing the guide mechanism; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary and enlarged sectional view taken approximately along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, it is herein shown and will hereinafter be described in a preferred embodiment and, more particularly, an embodiment especially adapted to guide sheet material to be used for production of screen of the Venetian type. It is not intended, however, that the invention is to be limited thereby to the particular embodiment shown. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

As shown in the drawings for purposes of disclosure, this invention is illustrated as embodied in a cutting and forming machine previously disclosed in application Serial No. 617,812, filed September 21, 1945, entitled Cutting and Forming Machine. Reference is made to that application for a complete illustration of the forming machine. The forming machine will be disclosed herein in a cursory manner or as necessary to present the setting for the present invention. 7

The machine is situated upon a base 19 (Fig. 1). On the right as viewed in Fig. 1 columns 21 and 22 are mounted .uprightly upon the base 19, and on the left, columns 30 and 31 are mounted in a like manner. Columns 21, 30 and 31 support a cutting and slitting means, generally designated 23. The specific form of this means 23 and of its component parts will vary depending upon the desired nature of the finished product. Since applicant is seeking a screen of the Venetian type, means 23 is adapted to cut longitudinal columns of transversely extending slits with the columns of slits separated by narrow, continuous, longitudinally extending strips constituting the supporting means for the narrow louver elements formed by the slitting, and to which the elements are secured by attachment attheir ends only. Herein both the lower part 76 and the upperpart 77 of the means 23 are composed and built up of a plurality of similar elements 25, each adapted to cooperate in the cutting of one of the longitudinal columns of slits, with the elements 25 so spaced transversely of the machine as to leave the continuous supporting strips of desired width. This spacing may be effected by means formed directly on the elements 25 or by separate spacers. With this construction, the means 23 can by addition or removal of one or more elements 25 be readily expanded or contracted so as to operate upon sheets of material of varying widths, while still leaving a side edge margin of uniform width on both sides of the sheet. The individual cutting elements 25 composing the rotary means 23 take the form of disk or gear-like elements formed with teeth around their peripheries.

Columns 22, 30 and 31 support a forming means, generally designated 24. Forming means 24 is composed of complementary parts and 101 (see Fig. 2) which cooperate to engage the partially twisted louver elements in the sheet and impart the balance of the twist necessary to give the louver elements their final position. Means 24 is constructed in substantially the same way as was means 23. Upper part 100 and lower part .101 are-each composed of a plurality of disk or gear-like elements 25 which are again spaced transversely of the forming machine. The importance of the spacing of elements 25 will become apparent as we further consider the structure and function of the guide means of the forming machine.

Cutting means 23 and final forming means 24 are driven by gearing, generally designated 26, in a precisely timed and coordinated relationship.

Horizontal cross bars 39 covering uprights 21, 22, 30 and 31 are removably secured by bolts 40. Immediately beneath each housing 66 and cross bars 39 lies a vertical slidable bearing (not shown). These bearings may be moved to regulate the vertical displacements of the upper member of cutting means 23, of the upper member of forming means 24, and of the gear on each of the shafts of the above members. The vertical displacement of these bearings is adjusted simultaneously by using manually rotatable wheels 74 and 75, the detailed operation of which is disclosed in my cope-riding application Serial No. 617,812.

At the forward end of the machine, that is, at the bottom, as viewed in Fig. 1, there is secured to the bed 19 a bracket which has rotatably supported between ears 156 upstanding therefrom a roller 157 over which the solid sheet 86 is intended to pass as it is fed to the machine. Also carried by the bracket 155 is an apron or similar means 158 forming a guide for the sheet extending from the roller 157 to the cutting means 23.

While the rate of feed of a sheet through the machine is determined by the rate of peripheral movement of the cutting means 23, and while the sheet is actually driven by the cutting means 23 and by the forming means 24, means is provided herein for aiding the cutting and the forming means in the feeding of the sheet and particu larly for retaining the sheet under some tension as it passes through the machine. Herein this means comprises a pair of soft rubber rollers 162 and 163, the detailed operation of which is disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 617,812.

Further means is provided primarily for guiding and centering and, secondarily, for supporting a sheet 86 in its passage from a point in advance of the engagement of the cutting means 23 with the sheet to a point beyond the final forming means 24. This means herein takes the form of a plurality of fingers or tines 180 in the form of elongated and fiat slats or bars each of which, as best seen in Fig. 2, has one of its side edges slightly beveled at each end. The fingers 180 are disposed on edge and parallel with one another and extend longitudinally of the machine. Each of the fingers 180 is thin enough to project into the space left between the cutting or forming elements of the means 23 and 24, and are spaced laterally the same as the cutting and forming elements so as to project one into each of the spaces between the elements. Herein the fingers 180 are, for convenience and accuracy, divided into four groups 181, 182, 183 and 184. Each group of fingers is held in an elongated plate 185 extending transversely of the machine. The fingers 180 are received in slots formed in the plate and in each instance are flush at one end with a side edge of the plate and at the other end project a substantial distance beyond a beveled edge 186 of the plate while the edge which is beveled at the ends projects a short distance beyond one face of the plate. As best seen in Fig. 2, the groups of fingers and their carrying plate are mounted in pairs, with the groups 181 and 182 forming one pair in which the fingers extend toward the forward end of the machine and with the groups 183 and 184 constituting the other pair in which the fingers extend toward the rear end of the machine. In both pairs, the plates 185 are so mounted that the fingers of the one plate face the fingers of the other plate and are in vertical alignment.

The guide fingers 180 support sheet 86 as its progresses through the machine. The longitudinally extending strips which are the supporting means for the narrow louver elements of sheet 86 ride on top of the guide fingers of the lower part of the guide means. At the same time the downward extending guide fingers of the upper part of the guide means keep the sheet 86 traveling in substantially the same plane. This is done by regulating the vertical spacing between the guide fingers until it is slightly greater than the thickness of sheet 86. The spacing must be very accurate for several reasons. If the fingers hold the sheet too firmly, excessive friction develops and tearing of the sheet is quite apt to result. If the vertical spacing is too great, the sheet 86 tends to follow upper part 77 of cutting means 23 in its upward arc until the sheet strikes the downward extending fingers of the upper guide means. This stripping action tends to bend, or otherwise deform, the partially formed sheet. Wave motion in the sheet 86 in its travel between cutting means 23 and forming means 24 may also develop and ultimately cause buckling Within the guide means. Perhaps the most serious result of excessive vertical spacing occurs in the final forming means 24. The gear-like elements of upper part 100 and of lower part 101 do not intermesh. If there is excessive vertical motion in the sheet, the gear-like elements of upper part 100 and of lower part 101 may not simultaneously engage each successive element 88 of the sheet. Therefore, some of these elements 88 will not be twisted through the same angle, others will not be twisted at all, and the resultant screen will not be of a uniform character.

The guide means as a whole is adjustable vertically and portions of the guide means, are, moreover, individually adjustable to a limited extent so as to permit such positioning of the guide means that the sheet 86 will be held in the proper relationship to the cutting and forming means. To that end, there is rigidly secured to an upstanding portion 187, at each side of the bed 19, a block 188. Formed in each upstanding portion 187 are two sets of vertical guideways 189, one for each pair of the groups of fingers. Slidable in each guideway 189 is an L-shaped bracket 190 which is adapted to be adjusted vertically by means of a screw shaft 191 which is rotatable in but held against axial movement relative to a plate 192 bolted to the top of the upstanding portion 187. The screw shaft 191 has threaded engagement with the vertical leg of the L-shaped bracket so as to etfect vertical adjustment of the bracket upon rotation of the screw shaft 191 in one direction or the other. Each of the brackets is provided with a pair of adjusting screws 193 which bear against the block 188 and are utilized accurately to determine the vertical position of the bracket 190, and hence of the means supported thereon, as well as to permit of limited adjustment of the plates relative to the horizontal. In order that this may be ac complished, the brackets have very slight play in the guideways 189.

The plates 185 of the lower groups of fingers, namely, 181 and 183, are supported at each end by the horizontal leg of the brackets 190 and are in fact securely held thereon by means of a single bolt 194 which extends through the plate and is threaded into the bracket 190. Supported on top of the lower group of fingers 181 is the group 182, the proper spacing of the edges of the fingers 180 being obtained by the interpositioning of a spacer strip 195 between the two plates 185. The upper plate 185 is properly located and held against horizontal displacement by means of a bolt 196 which passes through an aperture in the upper plate 185 and in the spacer strip 195 and is threaded into the lower plate 185. The apertures in the upper plate 185 and in the spacer strip are such that the bolt just passes therethrough and has a snug fit therein. Interposed between the upper plate 185 and the head of the bolt 196 is a compression spring 197 encircling the pro jecting portion of the bolt and serving to hold the upper plate 185 downwardly on the spacer strip with a prede termined amount of pressure adjustable by varying the extent to which the bolt 196 is threaded into the lower plate 185. As best seen in Fig, 3, the fingers 180 of the groups 181 and 182 will be in registry and will be spaced by a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the sheet 86, and thus will guide and support the sheet in proper position relative to the cutting and forming elements. Each bolt 196 preferably has extending radially therefrom an arm 198 which carries a screw 199 serving as the adjustable but normally stationary contact of an electrical switch, the movable contact of which is formed by the upper plate 185. This switch may be utilized to control means for governing the machine in the event the sheet 86 should for some reason no longer lie absolutely fiat but becomes bulged or buckled to an extent sufiicient to raise the upper plate 185 a distance to make contact with the screw 199. It is to be understood that means of the character just described for yieldably holding the upper plate 185 in position and for detecting excess movement is provided at each end of each upper plate 185.

I claim:

1. In a machine for producing a mesh fabric from a sheet having a first means comprising a pair of cooperating rotary parts each composed of a plurality of toothed elements slightly spaced transversely of the machine and adapted to cut and partially form the sheet into a plurality of elongated elements extending transversely of the machine and lying in longitudinally extending columns divided by narrow, continuous, longitudinally extending strips, and a second means composed of a plurality of cooperating parts each composed of a plurality of toothed elements slightly spaced laterally of the machine operable to engage and operate upon the elements cut and partially formed by the first means; guide means for the sheet while being operated upon by said first and said second means comprising a plurality of slat-like fingers extending longitudinally of the machine and laterally spaced so as to project into the spaces between the toothed elements, means for adjusting said guide means as a Whole to vary the position of the sheet between the parts composing said first and said second means, and means for adjusting the spacing of the fingers on one side of the sheet from the fingers on the opposite side of the sheet. a

2. In a machine for producing a mesh fabric from a sheet having a first means comprising a pair of cooperating rotary parts each composed of a plurality of toothed elements slightly spaced transversely of the machine and adapted to cut and partially form the sheet into a plurality of elongated elements extending transversely of the machine and lying in longitudinally extending columns divided by narrow, continuous, longitudinally extending strips, and a second means composed of a plurality of cooperating parts each composed of a plurality of toothed elements slightly spaced laterally of the machine operable to engage and operate upon the elements cut and partially formed by the first means; guide means for the sheet While being operated upon by said first and said second means comprising a plurality of slat-like fingers extending longitudinally of the machine and laterally spaced so as to project into the spaces between the toothed elements, said fingers being formed into four groups with the groups forming two pair, each composed of a lower and an upper group, with the fingers of one pair cooperating with the first means and the fingers of the other pair cooperating with the second means, a single plate extending transversely of the machine in which the fingers of each group are carried, means for varying the spacing between the fingers of the groups constituting one pair, and means for adjusting the spacing between the groups of fingers of one pair separately from the groups of fingers of the other pair transversely of the plane of the sheet.

3. Guide means to direct the passage of sheet material through a forming machine comprising: an upper and a lower superposed plate extending transversely of the direction of movement of the sheet, each plate carrying cooperating fingers extending longitudinally of the sheet, said fingers being adapted to bear against the surface of the sheet on opposite sides thereof, and means for adjusting the position of the guide means as a whole relative to the forming machine including a screw shaft at each end of the plates carrying said plates together as a unit for movement transversely of the plane of the sheet, a removable spacing member between the plates holding the plates in spaced relationship and spring means yieldingly urging said plates together.

4. Guide means to direct the passage of sheet material through a forming machine comprising: a plurality of slatlike fingers extending longitudinally of the machine and laterally spaced, said fingers being formed into four groups with the groups forming two pair, each composed of a lower and upper group, a single plate extending transversely of the machine in which the fingers of each group are carried, a removable spacing member between said plates holding said plates in spaced relationship with spring means yieldingly urging said plates together, means for adjusting the guide means as a whole transversely of the plane of the sheet material including a screw shaft extending and threadably engaged in one leg of an L-shaped bracket member, the lower plate being secured to the other leg of the bracket member for movement therewith, means mounting the screw shaft on the forming machine to maintain it against displacement longitudinally thereof whereby turning of the shaft may raise and lower the lower plate, and means carrying the upper plate on the lower plate.

5. In a forming machine having two pair of coacting forming devices, spaced in the direction of movement through the machine of the material to be formed, each forming device having laterally spaced slots opening through its Working surface, guide means to direct the passage of sheet material through the forming devices comprising a plurality of slat-like fingers extending 1ongitudinally of the machine, said fingers being formed into four groups, with the groups forming two pair each composed of a lower and an upper group, a first pair of plates providing cantilever support respectively for-the lower and the upper group of fingers of one pair, said plates being mounted in the space between said pairs of forming devices and supporting the associated fingers to extend through the slots in one of the pair of forming devices, a. second pair of plates providing cantilever support for the fingers of the other pair of groups, said plates being mounted in juxtaposed relation to said first pair of plates to support the associated fingers for projection through the slots in the remaining pair of forming devices, and means for adjusting the groups of fingers of one pair transversely of the plane of the sheet independently of the groups of fingers of the other pair.

6. In a forming machine having a pair of coacting forming devices, each forming device having laterally spaced slots opening through its working surface and registering with the slots in the other device, means to direct and guide the passage of sheet material through the forming devices comprising a first group of slat-like fingers extending longitudinally of the machine and disposed on one side of sheet material passing through the machine, a second group of slat-like fingers disposed on the other side of sheet material passing through the machine, a first plate providing cantilever mounting for the fingers of said first group supporting said fingers to extend through the slots in one of said forming devices and beyond the area of cooperation of said devices, a second plate providing cantilever mounting for the fingers of said second group supporting said fingers to extend through the slots in the other of said forming devices and beyond the area of cooperation of said devices, said plates being adjustable relative to one another to vary the spacing between said groups of fingers, and means for jointly adjusting the groups of fingers transversely of the plane of the sheet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 369,328 Ellis Sept. 6, 1887 767,883 Grafton Aug. 16, 1904 804,799 Edison Nov. 14, 1905 2,000,208 Balfe May 7, 1935 2,089,326 Bailey Aug. 10, 1937 2,250,593 Mesnel July 29, 1941 2,333,937 Kinter et a1. Nov. 9, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 293,690 Germany Aug. 23, 1916 508,665 Germany Sept. 29, 1930 

